Why We Created Muskoka Mudita - Mushroom Tea Co.
The genesis of our business was inspired by our Co-Founder, Chelsea Bernas and her upbringing in Northern Ontario. For the majority of her life, Chelsea suffered greatly from endometriosis.
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This results in chronic pain, day in & day out, the likes of which medication offers no sustainable relief from. Thus affecting her quality of life significantly. Seeking natural alternatives, she turned to her holistic upbringing.
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She was taught, by her mother about Chaga (inonotus obliquus), how to find it, forage it, respect it and its amazing uses throughout history.
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Bestowed with the knowledge of how to find, sustainably forage and brew the ancient Chaga tea; Chelsea began the process of making it back in 2019.
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It was quite the task, to say the least, but that's a story for another day. Let's just say we wished there was a ready-to-drink version.
Our other co-founder Dan recommended it to his parents. Both have a lifetime of athleticism, of which aches and pains have become a regular occurrence.
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After a month, Dan's mom noticed no more aches during golf, curling or everyday tasks. His father began to notice his back pain disappearing. Another anecdotal confirmation of our efforts. In addition to Dan enjoying the cognitive boost, elevated mood and enhanced focus that Chaga offers him.
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It wasn't until a car ride home from Magnetawan to Toronto, that Dan turned to Chelsea and said; we should make this a sustainable business!
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Now we're on a mission to get Chaga, sustainably, to the world! All while respecting nature and the traditional harvesting techniques adhered to today.
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We began with making/experimenting with Chaga tea in a crock-pot in our condo in 2019, tweaking recipes and proportions. Typically showing up to a family event with a mason jar of tea for feedback and willing participants to sample (there were many, thankfully).
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It wasn't until the lockdown of 2020 that Dan & Chelsea decided to move from their condo in Toronto and make their journey back to the north. Purchasing an old farmhouse and some acreages in Sundridge, Ontario.
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Now being closer than ever to Chaga, we knew we had something amazing when we walked the property and the first Birch tree we found possessed Chaga. If that wasn't a sign, I don't know what is.
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Seeing how people were using Chaga and it's amazing potential, we knew sustainability was ESSENTIAL. We then looked at how we can re-purpose all our Chaga after our water extraction process for our teas.
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Chelsea having spent the past 10+ years in skincare, having both the expertise and experience to create a line of premium topicals.
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This was in response to the amount of hand-sanitizer that was being used on our little guy's hands at school. Constantly cracking and bleeding. We knew we could come up with something that offers relief, incorporates Chaga and utilizes Chelsea's expertise. Which WORKED!
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We power UP our topicals with glycoproteins derived from the upcycled Chaga itself. The blends that Chelsea has come up with are inspired by her favorite products while working in the aesthetics/spa industry for over a decade.
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We decided to re-brand from M3T to Fung-Chanel in late 2021 in order to differentiate our beverages from our topicals. Thus, Fung-Chanel Face Food was born. Creating all unique and original formulations to be enjoyed throughout Muskoka and the world. From there we wanted to GROW so we changed everything to Fung-Ctional! Functional Face- Food & Fung-Ctional Fungi Brews.
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The goal was to create a business that empowers others, in every way possible. We've built out a rural-gig-economy to empower rural communities with economic opportunity and ensuring a sustainable supply chain of Chaga for generations to come.
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This is just the beginning and we're just getting started.
Stay tuned for MORE soon!